Medical Futility: Institutional and Legislative Initiatives

Mitchell Hamline School of Law; Queensland University of Technology - Australian Health Law Research Center; Saint Georges University; Alden March Bioethics Institute

Date Written: September 12, 2008

Abstract

This document is a transcript of the author’s invited testimony to the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics on medical futility in institutional and legislative initiatives. This is not a formal academic research paper; however, it is presented to be informational. Dr. Pope illustrates and defines a futility dispute, identifies the causes of futility disputes, explores intractable disputes, explains institutional policies and their relationship to law, describes state differences in safe harbor laws, and highlights the exception of Texas.